Compound innersole for welt shoes



Feb. 7, 1933. p W, VALENTlNE 1,896,531

COMVPOUNIJA INNERSOLE FOR WELT SHOES Filed May 15, 1929 1a: gal

zwzi' Patented Feb. 7, 1933 TES PATENT OFFICE BERCY W. VALENTINE, orNarren, MASSACHUSETTS COMPOIND INNER-SOLE FR WELT SHOES Applica/cienfiled May 15,

This invention relates to shoes and the art of shoe making and isparticularly concerned with innersoles for Welt shoes. Its ultimateobject is Vto provide an'innersole having a 5 leather ply on the sidewhich comes next to the Wearers foot in the completed shoe and isthereby suitable for use in a so-called all leather shoe, which atthesame time can be produced at much less cost than an all leatherinnersole and has adequate strength and other desirable qualities forthepurposes :of an innersole. have produced a composite sole having aleather Vply extending the full Width of the sole, a filler pieceoccupying the space on the outer side of the sole Within thestitch-receiving rib thereof, and an originally separate rib elementsecured first to the filler piece and subsequently, in the course ofstitching the inseam, to the leather ply by the stitches of the inseam.

The invention consists in the new innersole having the characteristicsabove indicated, and others subsequently described, as an article ofmanufacture or shoe finding, and

also in Vthe characteristics of the innersole as affected and changed bythe inseaming. op-

eration and the combination of such inner'sole with the shoe.

In the drawing,-

Fig'. l is a bottom plan view of my improved composite innersole priorto being combined with the shoe; Y

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary sectional view of theI filler piece and fabricrib element which forms a part of my composite innersole;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view of the leather ply of theinnersole after chan- 40 neling and prior to its union With the fillerIn accomplishing this object Iv 1929. serial No. 363.143.

Fig. 7 is a similar view of another modification.

Like reference characters designate the same parts Wherever they occurin all the iigures.

There are three elements in my new coniposite innersole, to Wit, aleather ply or body a, a fillerpieee or ply b, and a rib stripe. Theleather ply is preferably made of split high grade leather' carrying thegrain surface and 6 0 of less thickness than that necessary for an allleather innersole. It is channeled in the flesh side fromfa line Withinits edges outward toward the edge forming a flap d Which is turned up toform one element of the stitch- C5 fabric, or inferior leather, or othersuitably 75 strong material Which is less' expensive than the leatherrequired for Whole leather innersoles. It is out to anoutline anddimensions conforming to the space on the under side of the' body ply aWithin the base of the turned up flap d. Custoinarily the rib of aninnersole for Welt shoes terminates at each side of the sole shortof theheelend, as shown in Fig. l, and for such soles the fillerpieceispreferably exten-ded to the heel end and given the full Widthofthe sole beyond the termination of the rib.

The rib element c is preferably made of a folded strip of textile fabriclocated sub- Sammy faust wat the. edges of the suer o piece and attachedthereto by one or more seams e, f. The preferred structure of such ribelement is that shown in Figs'. 2 and 4.

The fabric of which it is composed is folded lengthwise to form twoplies of unequal f Width and both plies are turned over in the samedirection to forma base flange at one side only ofthe upstan'ding part,which may be called the ribproper, The stitches of the seam e passthrough both p lies and the stitches of the seam pass through the widerone only of the two plies, this construction giving the desirable effectof tapered thickness in the base flange for enabling the rib to besecurely united with the filler piece and, more particularly, making itpossible to locate the rib proper substantially fiush with the edge ofthe filler piece.

rlhe filler piece with its attached rib is then placed on the body plyof the sole so that it covers the area within the channel flap al, andis secured by a strong rubber cement, or other suitable adhesive. Therib proper c then lies close to the channel flap and substantially incontact with the inner side thereof, due to the fact that it is placedat the edge of the filler piece and that the latter is cut to thedimensions of the space bounded by the channel flap.

In all essentials the composite sole thus constructed is complete as anarticle of manufacture ready for incorporation in a shoe. As such it maybe made by manufacturers of shoe findings for sale to shoe manufacturersor may be made in the insole departments of shoe factories. If desired,in order to make a still stronger bond between the innersole body andthe filler and its rib, a film of cement or the like may be spreadbetween the rib c and the flap d, or these parts may be stitchedtogether, or may be both cemented and stitched; although such additionalbond is not essential in the separate innersole in view of the bondcreated by the inseam of the shoe when the innersole is afterwardsunited with the upper and welt.

This composite innersole is adapted to the Goodyear method of shoemaking and may be combined with other parts of the shoe in the usualway. It is then secured to the shoe upper g and its lining h, and to thewelt y' of the shoe by the inseam c, as shown in Fig. 4. The stitches ofthe inseam pass through the upper leather, lining, channel flap and rib,tying the rib and flap together and thereby additionally securing thefiller to the body of the innersole, as well as securing the upper, weltand innersole together. T e excess stock in the rib and edges of theupper is then trimmed off close to the inseam, and the outer sole Z laidon the bottom of the shoe and secured to the welt by the outseam m inthe usual way.

The composite innersole of this invention has all the advantages of anall leather innersole and costs -substantially less. It is also lessexpensive and easier to make than the well known Gem innersole, as itcontains less fabric and the filler iece with its attached rib issimpler to ma e and apply than the fabric reinforcement of the Gem typeof innersole. It possesses ample strength, for the filler piece itselfhas substantial strength, the fabric rib is strong and strongly attachedto the filler piece, and the flap of the innersole body also hassubstantial strength and is so disposed in combination with the inseamthat it aids in preventing displacement of the filler while holding thebody part securely in place within the shoe.

Various departures or changes from the materials, construction andarrangement of parts hereinbefore described may be made withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention and from the protection whichI claim. For example, the rib may be combined with the filler piece inthe manner shown in Fig. 6, so that its rib portion proper extendsacross the edge of the filler piece toward the opposite side from thatto which its base flange is applied. In this form, the base flange maybe made of a width enough less than the width of the channel in theleather body to permit of its entering and lyingl in the channel. Thedimensions of the filler piece are made in this ease enough smaller thanthose of the space bounded by the channel flap to admit the rib betweenthe flap and the filler piece, but they need be only slightly smaller;and the outline of the filler piece is still similar to the outline ofthe flap. In this case, where the rib is wrapped about the edge of thefiller piece, the rib proper is substantially flush with such edge. Themodification just described has this advantage, that it utilizesotherwise waste space to receive the base flange of the rib element anddoes not appreciably increase the thickness of the sole at the edge ofthe filler piece. The stitches of the inseam may be placed flush with,or even somewhat back from the outer side of the filler piece and thecomposite rib subsequently trimmed oit nearly or exactly flush with it,enabling the filler piece to fill completely the space between the outersole and the innersole body within the outline of the inseam rib.

Another variation is shown in Fig. 7 and consists in forming the flap alof the leather body by channeling inward from the edge of the bodyinstead of outward from a line on one face at some distance from theedge. This modification, while inferior to the preferred form, becauseit leaves less thickness at the margin of the body, is useful andpractical nevertheless.

In this composite innersole the entire rib for receiving the stitches ofthe inseam is formed in part by the channel flap cl and in part by therib element c, these two elements cooperating to provide a. compositestitch receiving rib.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. A composite innersole consisting of a leather body having an integralflap protruding from one face, a filler piece occupying the spacebounded by said flap and adhesively united to the face of the body, anda fabric rib element having a base flange stitched independently to thefiller piece and a rib proper portion extending away from the fillerpiece substantially Hush with the edges thereof and contiguous to theinner side of the flap.

2. An innersole consisting of ,a yleather body having an outturned flapprojecting from one side at a distance inward from its edges and achannel in the same side at the base of, and within, the space vboundedby said flap, a substantially rigid, separate filler piece similar inoutline to the space bounded by said flap located in said space y.andadliesively attached to the face of the body, and a rib elementcontiguous to the inner surface of the flap, extending between the sameand the edge of the filler piece, and having a base flange occupyingsaid channel and stitched separately to the filler piece.

3. The method of making a composite innersole which comprises channelinga body piece and turning up the flap of said channel on a line withinthe edge of the body substantially similar to such edge, separatelyproviding a self-sustaining ller piece having outlines and dimensionssubstantially conforming to the space within said upturned flap,separately stitching a doubled strip of fabric to the marginal portionof said filler piece and turning up the fold of said strip as a ribproper substantially flush with the edge of the filler piece, andplacing the filler piece against the innersole body within the spacebounded by said flap and with said rib proper extending contiguous tothe flap.

In testimony whereof I have aiiixed my signature.

PERCY W. VALENTINE.

